**3. Sources of insecticides and purpose**

### **3.1 Definition**

Insecticides are agrochemicals in the pesticide family used to control insects by killing them or preventing the establishment or proliferation of those considered harmful. They play an important role in agriculture and public health by improving the yield and productivity of crops caused by pests and by reducing the rate of vector-borne diseases by killing or affecting growth and development of vectors such as mosquitoes, houseflies, tse tse flies, sand flies, cockroaches, etc. They are pesticides formulated essentially for repelling, killing, harming or mitigating insects from crops and other agri-food sources such as ranches, poultry farms, etc. Insecticides work differently based on their mode of actions; some disrupt the nervous system, whereas others damage the exoskeletons, others repel or control them. Insecticides application helps in managing and mitigating insects; thereby guaranteeing crop protection and preventing yield loss, they are the main weapons against insects in Africa. Insecticides are widely used in Cameroon by farmers and traders to protect their plants and products during production and post-harvest storage [5].

#### **3.2 Insecticide supply routes**

There are two main supply routes in Cameroon—a legal and an illegal supply chain. Pesticides (including insecticides) are imported mainly from France (30.9%), Switzerland (14.0%), Norway (5.7%) and the USA (5.1%). Other countries (such as Germany, China, and India) supply 16.6% while 27.7% were of unidentified sources. Pesticides are imported by local companies to large distributors and then distributed to chemical retailers (95% of all pesticides) or to farmers' societies (5%) [6]**.**

Cameroon does not currently produce any insecticides for crop protection, timber protection and public health uses, but repackaging is practiced by some distributors [7]. Consequently, all national demand for insecticides is met by imports. In Cameroon, the quantities of pesticides imported are undergoing a clear evolution; from 960 tons in 2015 to 1163 tons in 2019 [8].

#### **3.3 Main dealers of insecticides**

There are about 13 recognized large companies that carry out the majority of insecticide and other agrochemical imports into Cameroon although the major companies are: FIMEX International SA, AGROCHEM, ARYSTA Life Science, JACO, AFRICAWARE, ADER, BASE-F, Syngenta and YARA (Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development). These main private companies operating in the phytosanitary business are mostly grouped within the association CropLife Cameroon, an international association of pesticide companies whose mission is to promote the availability of quality pesticides within the country. CropLife's advocacy role involves financial support and regular sensitisation of pesticide import and distribution companies to conduct their activities in a manner that takes into account national and international regulatory requirements in order to ensure the promotion of appropriate health, safety and environmental protection measures for all those who may be directly or indirectly affected by their activities.

The responsibility of the distributor is his/her obligation to answer for the act of making available to the end user plant protection products that have safety and quality standards. Law No. 2003/003 of 21 April 2003 on plant protection stipulates that the distributor must verify that the plant protection products are registered or have a valid Provisional Sales Authorization (PSA) in Cameroon. In order to meet this expectation, he must confirm that the product of standard (formulation, mode of action and type or family of products, he must be able to distinguish the products, which means he must know how to read the label and has adequate training). The regulations stipulate that the technician in charge of pesticide distribution must have been trained by an approved agricultural training institution. Although the distribution of phytosanitary products is an economic activity, the technician must be able to give technical advice to his clients.

#### **3.4 Distribution of insecticides in Cameroon**

The distribution of pesticides is subject to strict rules and the distributor must be registered in the MINADER database. Article 24:(1) of Law No. 2003/003 of 21 April 2003 on plant protection stipulates that the marketing of plant protection products in bulk or on display is prohibited. The same applies to the possession of obsolete plant protection products [9]. Small scale distributors or retailers buy from the large companies. Some of these large companies put in place measures that allow the retailers to be registered before being allowed to get products. Sellers mainly buy their supplies from large authorized distributors. In addition to vendors, permanent retailers operate agricultural input sales outlets in the main markets of Cameroon. In addition to permanent retailers, hawkers do sell in several markets at once, traveling from one market to another.

In 2017, a pilot study on the harmful effects of agricultural pesticides on human health and the environment in some regions of Cameroon, carried out in five different zones representing the main agricultural production basins of the 5 agroecological zones indicated that although all the retailers claim to get their supplies preferentially from approved distributors, the majority of pesticide sellers found in the markets do not have any sales authorization as required by the Law and are not

#### *Insecticide Use and Application in Cameroon DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102634*

listed in MINADER's data base. This creates an informal market for agricultural pesticides (including insecticides). Some of them sell in bulk and on stalls. This creates a situation where unregistered and expired products are found in the markets (**Figure 2**) [10].
